


just a teenage dirtbag, baby

by tesselated



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: American High School AU, Cisgirl!Zayn, F/F, cisgirl!niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 06:55:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/707839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tesselated/pseuds/tesselated
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You think I should hook up with Niall, don’t you?” Zayn asks suddenly, turning to stare at Harry. He chokes on his coffee, and Zayn smiles despite herself.</p><p>“We kind of want you to…I don’t know, you’ve always seemed so suited for each other. We’ve kind of always thought you two should…get married or something.” He shrugs, and Zayn stares at him blankly for a moment before bursting into hysterical laughter.</p><p>Harry smiles, rolling his eyes, and says, “Yeah, we thought you’d react like that.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	just a teenage dirtbag, baby

**Author's Note:**

> i can literally only write f/f i'm sorry a little
> 
> american HS au mostly because liam payne should always be in a football uniform
> 
> zayn and niall are girls and the rest aren't, to avoid confusion
> 
> liam/danielle is ultra background and also there's a little zerrie for like, a sec
> 
> ok bye

Harry and Zayn are sitting together on a couch in the corner of the basement, like they usually are at parties.

“This is…really lame.” Harry says in his low drawling voice, eyes glued to his phone.

Zayn takes a drag on her cigarette and nods at him, leaning against his shoulder. “I’m tired as hell, why are we here?”

Harry gestures over to Niall, laughing animatedly at some joke that a lacrosse player made, holding a beer in one hand. Louis stands next to her, smirking and flirting with some girl.

“Right, the popular kids made us.” Zayn laughs, ashing her cigarette over the back of the couch.

“We’re popular too.” Harry says, sounding a little hurt.

“You’re damn right we are,” Zayn agrees, high-fiving him over her shoulder. “Where’s Li?”

“I think I saw him disappear somewhere with that Danielle girl earlier,”

“Good, she’s hot.” Zayn always feels strangely proud whenever Liam hooks up with some girl. Well, gets a girlfriend; Liam never just randomly hooks up with girls, he’s too sweet and earnest for that. Zayn has exactly one nurturing, motherly bone in her body, and it’s reserved for Liam Payne.

They sit in relative quiet, people-watching and gossiping on the couch while Zayn continues to smoke and Harry continues to text someone.

A girl comes up to Harry and asks if he wants to smoke with them and he pulls a face. “Erm…no, actually I’m…Zayn…needs me…” He trails off vaguely, and the girl rolls her eyes as Zayn laughs.

“Stop being mean!” Harry hisses, elbowing her.

“Oh, come ON, Harry, that was so bad.” Zayn laughs again, but feels a little bad for the girl.

“How can you do shit like that and still have everyone love you?” Harry asks, elbowing her again.

“I’m very hot.” She answers simply, and takes a last drag on her cigarette before putting it out. Niall walks up to them, grinning.

“You two are so boring, jesus. At least look like you’re having fun.”

Zayn and Harry both put on dramatic frowns, and Niall rolls her eyes and sits down next to Zayn.

“SPIN THE BOTTLE!” Nick shouts from the other side of the room, and Niall laughs and goes toward him. “Everyone, even you sullen jerks!” He says, pointing at Harry and Zayn in the corner. Zayn smiles and stands up, adjusting her skirt, and extends a hand to Harry, whose jeans are so tight he has difficulty standing up.

“You look like a reject frontman of an indie band.” Zayn tells him, punching his shoulder, as they walk over to the growing circle of people. She sits down next to Niall, ruffling her hair. Niall sticks her tongue out at her. Louis is sitting on the other side of Niall, chattering excitedly to someone, and waves at Zayn.

Nick starts the game off, and they go around the circle taking turns. There are about forty people playing in all, and Zayn has to kiss two athletic, bro-types and a pretty girl with curly hair before it’s her turn. She spins and lands on Louis, and he cackles.

“C’mere then!” He yells at her, and she leans over Niall to reach him. He pulls her in, touching the nape of her neck. She pulls his hair with her free hand, and he slips his tongue in her mouth in return. The crowd whoops and Zayn laughs as she pulls away from him.

“You’re a terrible kisser, Tomlinson,” she says, winking at him, and everyone laughs. She’s kissed all the boys before, always the affectionate friend. She’s never kissed Niall, though, and Zayn watches her as she kisses the girl she spins on. It’s barely more than a peck, but she can tell she’s a good kisser.

The game passes uneventfully, until an obviously tousled Liam Payne comes down the stairs and sits down next to Louis. His lips look swollen and there’s a blooming red mark on his collarbone, barely visible past his v-neck. The four of them give him a look-over and smirk collectively, Louis cat-calling quietly. Liam blushes and rolls his eyes.

Spin the bottle dissolves fairly quickly into idle chatting, and when Louis says, “D’you want to leave?” the four of them nod quickly.

They sneak off, managing to not have to say goodbye to anyone, and Zayn grabs a half-full vodka bottle on her way out.

“Zayn!” Liam says in a scolding voice.

“Grimshaw owes me, the last time he was at my house he broke almost everything in my room.”

“Why was Grimshaw in your room?” Harry asks her, smiling and raising an eyebrow. She makes a face and shrugs.

They pile into Liam’s car, and he drives them all toward Harry’s house by default. With his mom never home and a constant supply of snacks, they’re there more often than not.

“What day is it?” Niall asks idly, leaning against Zayn’s shoulder in the car. They laugh, and Zayn says, “Friday, babe.”

“ _Yess,”_ Niall says softly, sounding sleepy. Zayn puts her head against Niall’s and closes her eyes, feeling as tired as Niall sounds. It’s almost autumn, and this time of year always makes Zayn sleepy: right before the real fall weather starts and she’s still used to staying up all night. She wraps her arms around Niall and she leans into Zayn’s chest, face against her neck, sighing. Nine months until graduation, she reminds herself.

They pull into Harry’s driveway and Niall pulls away from her, making a scrunched up face as Zayn sticks her tongue out. Niall opens the car door and falls out, not realizing how close she was to it. She laughs loudly, pulling Zayn down with her by the wrist, and the two stay on the ground for a moment, laughing. Harry pulls them up, and Louis smacks Zayn on the ass as he passes.

So it was fairly typical, as Friday nights go.

\--

“So who were you with at the party?” Niall asks Liam, sitting upside-down with her legs over the back of the couch and her head dangling. They’re sitting close to the TV playing some zombie game, Louis swearing loudly as he dies for the fifth time.

Liam blushes again, looking flustered. “Danielle Peazer,” he admits, killing Louis again just as he comes back to life.

“She did quite a job on you,” Zayn smirks, bludgeoning a zombie. Liam blushes harder.

“Is she your _giiiiirlfriend,_ then?” Harry says in a teasing voice, and Liam kicks him, shooting his character on screen.

“She doesn’t want to have anything serious right now.” Liam says quietly, and they all groan loudly.

“What?”

“You sweet angel, she’s going to wreck you.” Zayn says sympathetically, eyes still glued to the TV. Niall makes an agreeing noise.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much code for ‘yes, I’ll make out with you at parties, but no, you can’t meet my parents’. Which is about the opposite of the Liam Payne manifesto.” Louis says, patting Liam on the shoulder consolingly.

“Maybe my manifesto’s changed! You don’t know my manifesto!”

“You really like her then, eh?” Harry asks, sounding amused.

“Yeah,” Liam sighs heavily.

“It’s very possible she’ll change her mind, you know. You’re so boyfriendly, even I want to introduce you to my family,” says Zayn, smiling at Liam.

“Me too,” says Louis, and they laugh.

\--

Zayn walks down the stairs in one of Harry’s sweaters and a pair of his boxers, after having shed her uncomfortable skirt/tights combination in his bedroom. She grabs the bottle of vodka too, for good measure.

Harry groans at her from behind the pizza box he’s holding. “That’s my favorite sweater!”

“Thanks for letting me borrow it, then,” Zayn smirks, and Harry smirks back, like he’s got a plan. She goes to grab a piece of pizza, and out of the corner of her eye she sees Harry whisper something to Louis. Before she can pick up her pizza, Louis, Harry, Niall, and Liam run at her, tackling her. She shrieks loudly, falling back on the couch. Harry’s pulling at the sweater, succeeding in nothing but stretching it out, Louis is pulling her hair, Liam is mostly laughing, falling off of her, and Niall is straddling her, smiling with her thighs around Zayn’s hips.

“You’re all assholes!” She shouts, wriggling away from them toward the pizza. She holds the box above her head as a hostage, and yells, “Everyone STOP, or the pizza gets it.” The room stills immediately.

“Here, Haz,” she mumbles, taking off his sweater and throwing it at him. He grins smugly and she rolls her eyes, standing in her sports bra in the middle of the basement.

“Fuck all of you, let’s drink Grimshaw’s booze,” she smiles, grabbing the vodka, pizza, and five cups and putting them on the coffee table in front of the couch, taking a seat. The other four follow suit, Niall on one side of her and Harry on the other. Niall’s staring at her tattoos, looking from her collarbones to the heart on her hip.

“Hey, stop ogling me,” Zayn teases, flicking Niall’s nose.

“I forgot how many you had.” Niall says innocently, but she smirks up at Zayn.

“Both of you stop flirting, let’s play a game,” Louis says, shooting Zayn a look. Zayn smiles at him.

“Jealous, Lou?” She launches herself over Harry’s lap into Louis’ and hugs him, kissing his cheek. He giggles into her ear and shoves her off, and she takes her spot again.

“Never have I ever!” Harry shouts, banging the plastic cups like a gavel, trying to still the chaos. “Excellent idea, Harry!” Louis shouts back at him, taking a cup from his hand and pouring himself a drink.

They’re sitting on the couch in their usual fashion, as if their skin would melt if they didn’t all touch in some way: Niall has her head in Liam’s lap and her legs across Zayn’s, who leans against Harry, who snuggles up close to Louis. It makes pouring the liquor quite an ordeal but it’s cozy and feels like home.

They’re disgustingly comfortable with each other, and they get plenty of comments about it. But they’ve known each other for so long, it would be ridiculous to react to any of it. Who cares if people think any of them (or all of them) are dating each other? Zayn stopped caring years ago, and was very used to people giving her strange looks if she said she was single.

“Never have I ever…gone to school stoned.” Liam says, and Harry and Niall drink.

“Niall! I expected better of you!” Louis cries from the other side of the couch and Niall laughs, her almost-cackle laugh that comes out when she drinks.

“Never have I ever gotten a drunk text from Louis wanting me to come over and kiss him,” Niall says, Zayn assumes as payback, since everyone drinks besides Louis, who blushes slightly.

“We’re gonna play it like that, huh Horan?” Louis says menacingly and Niall laughs again.

“Never have I ever…hmm, never have I ever been sexually attracted to anyone in this group,” Liam chimes from the other end of the couch. Liam is the most fun to play with because he always spouts these things off like they’re ridiculous and no one will have to drink, and then looks aghast when everyone besides him does.

True to form, they all take a swig. “Well, Zayn and Harry are a given,” says Niall, and Zayn laughs, remembering when they half-heartedly tried to hook up at age fifteen.

“Good times,” Harry chimes, and Zayn reaches over to twist his nipple. He dodges her expertly.

“Never have I ever had a _crush_ on anyone in this group,” says Louis, raising an eyebrow at Niall.

Niall goes red, glaring at him and taking a drink. Her face brightens, though, as she yells, “You too, though, asshole!”

“That _barely_ counts, Nialler, but alright, I’ll humor you.”

“We’re keeping secrets now?” Harry asks, amused, as Louis rolls his eyes at Niall and takes a drink.

“It’s nothing,” both of them say at once, and Zayn smiles, squeezing Niall’s knee and saying, “Love, you know you can tell us anything.”

Niall cackles again, leans up to kiss Zayn on the cheek.

“Never have I ever streaked,” Zayn says, lying down on Harry’s lap. Louis and Harry quickly take a drink, and after a moment of hesitation, Liam does too, blushing.

Zayn shrieks, reaching over slap him on the arm.

“It was with the team! They made me!” He shouts, trying to defend himself as she continues to hit him. Louis is howling with laughter, and Harry looks vaguely shocked. Niall, at this point, has actually fallen off of the couch, laughing wildly on the floor. Meanwhile, Liam’s face continues to get redder.

The laughter dissolves quickly, though, and a few more scenarios are called off. The game is given up pretty easily once they realize there’s no way to top Liam’s streaking, and they lie in silence for a few moments. They’re half-drunk and sleepy, and Zayn is almost falling asleep on Harry’s lap.

“Bedtime, then?” Louis asks, standing up and stretching his legs. The rest of them nod at him, Niall still on the floor.

The boys wander off to go shed their clothes, and Zayn’s left to pull out the futon and make the bed as Niall kicks off her jeans in the corner, leaving her oversized tank top on to sleep in.

“Have you been working out?” Zayn asks her, waggling her eyebrows at the hint of abs visible when she pulls her tank top up to scratch at her stomach.

“A bit,” she answers sheepishly, crawling into the bed. She tugs Zayn down next to her, and Zayn pulls Niall close to her, grabbing them the best pillow before the boys can come take it.

“You’re so skinny, how can you be so cozy?” Niall asks her, sleepy.

Zayn giggles softly. “You’re so drunk, babe.”

“Done too much stuff, had to drink too much,” she answers in reply, laughing quietly.

“We’ve never kissed,” Zayn says suddenly, remembering as she looks down at Niall’s pink lips. “I’ve kissed everyone except you.”

“Kiss me now, then.” Niall says back to her, meeting her eyes, and Zayn’s suddenly aware of how half-naked they are and the quiet around them.

She shakes the thought from her head and leans down to give Niall a peck on the lips, friendly enough.

“Kiss me properly, another time,” Niall mumbles, almost sleeping. Zayn raises her eyebrows at that, but doesn’t have a chance to reply before the boys tumble back down the stairs in their boxers.

“Shh, look at the girls!” Harry whispers, and Zayn pretends she’s asleep. Niall doesn’t have to, she’s already breathing deep.

“So sweet!” Louis says, putting on the voice of an emotional mother, fake tears included.

“It is actually, a bit,” Liam says, sounding fond. “They look good together.”

“Well, they’re them.” Harry says as if this explains something, and the others make noises of agreement. Zayn reminds herself to ask Harry what that means tomorrow.

They try to get in the bed carefully, which is remarkably nice of them, being who they are, and Zayn feels comforted when Liam lies down next to her and puts his arm around her. He’s the nicest to cuddle with, possibly the cuddliest quarterback she’s ever met, Zayn thinks.

She falls asleep within minutes, still thinking of what Niall meant when she said she wanted her to kiss her properly. She wakes up thinking about it too.

\--

Zayn and Harry sit in his car in the parking lot, chatting as Zayn smokes, putting off going to first period.

“Homecoming game’s this Friday,” Harry says, taking a bite of a poptart he finds in his glove compartment. Zayn gives him a disgusted look and says, “Yeah, I know.”

“We’re going to the game, right?”

“Kinda have to, right? For Li.”

“Right.”

Neither of them are morning people, and they let silence fall in the car while Zayn finishes her cigarette.

“You think I should hook up with Niall, don’t you?” Zayn asks suddenly, turning to stare at Harry. He chokes on his coffee, and Zayn smiles despite herself.

“No. No I do not.”

“Fuck, you all do, don’t you?”

“No. No we do not.”

“‘Oh, well, they’re _them,’_ ” Zayn mimics Harry’s slow, deep voice from the other night, and Harry snickers.

“Alright, a bit, but we don’t want you to _hook up,”_ Harry says.

“What do you want then, us to hook up while you watch?” Harry ponders that for a moment, but Zayn hits him, rolling her eyes.

“We kind of want you to…I don’t know, you’ve always seemed so suited for each other. We’ve kind of always thought you two should…get married or something.” He shrugs, and Zayn stares at him blankly for a moment before bursting into hysterical laughter.

Harry smiles, rolling his eyes, and says, “Yeah, we thought you’d react like that.”

“When do you three find the time to gossip about us? We’re _always with you,”_

“Not always. We’re the boys, sometimes we have boy times, chat about boy things.”

Zayn snorts loudly at that. “Yes, I forgot, you’re all very manly and sometimes need to have manly times together and sweat and talk about hot girls and lift things.”

“Basically, yes.”

“Me and Niall don’t go off and have girl chats about girl things! We’re not running around having private dates in our panties, cutting out pictures of boys from magazines and teaching each other how to kiss!”

“These are the things we talk about during boy chats.”

\--

Niall’s been extremely normal toward her, actually, which shouldn’t be surprising since it’s Niall, who’s normal about almost everything

In the three years she’s known Niall, she’s never known her to make a big deal of anything. When a guy on the soccer team started telling people she was easy, Niall shrugged and said, “I am, a bit,” before laughing and continuing to eat her lunch.

It’s slightly irritating to Zayn, actually. She likes to think of herself as a fairly relaxed person, but she still loses it sometimes. She doesn’t even think “losing it” is something that’s crossed Niall’s mind. Maybe for a second, until someone hands her a beer and her guitar. Niall’s just _cool,_ in a way that Zayn could never be cool.

“Zayn, you’re like, the poster child for cool,” Liam says to her in English later, after she voices this in a much more vague way.

“You’ve got like thirty tattoos!” He prods the bird on her hand, as if to prove it to her, and Zayn just gives him a look.

“Come on, look at you, with your leather and your miniskirts and lipstick. You’re one of the coolest people I’m friends with.” He looks at her with his big puppy eyes and she smiles fondly at him. Lovely Liam.

\--

They’re in Harry’s room with the window open, the low murmur of the TV in the background. Harry passes her the joint and she takes a hit, waiting to exhale. She hands it off to Niall and slowly lets out her breath, feeling her high settle over her.

Liam’s at football practice and Louis refuses to smoke with them anymore, something about his asthma. Zayn’s almost positive he’s bullshitting, but she assumes he has his reasons.

She lies back on Harry’s bed and Niall follows her, stroking Zayn’s hair absentmindedly as she exhales.

“Long week,” Niall says quietly, tracing the ZAP! on Zayn’s arm with her finger. “It’s Wednesday,” Zayn laughs.

Harry mutters something about cleaning up to do and he walks out of the room, looking sleepy and amused. She turns her gaze back to Niall, who’s taking another hit and lying on her back. Zayn takes the joint from her calloused fingers and whispers, “D’you still want me to kiss you properly?”

Niall’s face flushes pink as she bites her lip and nods. Zayn takes a long hit before leaning over Niall’s small frame, tipping her chin up, and exhaling into her mouth, their lips barely touching. Niall makes a quiet noise in the back of her throat, almost a growl, and Zayn’s a little taken aback.

Zayn pulls back, looking down at Niall, face red and eyes half-lidded.

“We should do that again sometime,” Niall says, giving her a crooked grin and sitting up. Zayn doesn’t have a quick response to that, her words caught in her throat, but she smiles back as Niall turns the radio on and the moment passes.

\--

The four of them are screaming louder than the rest of the stands combined, though it could be because none of them know a damn thing about football and when to cheer.

“GO LIAM!” whoops Niall, waving a blue and white pom-pom with one hand. She’s wearing his overlarge Varsity jacket, and her hair is in a high ponytail in true cheerleader form. They made t-shirts, white with big blue letters spelling out “LIAM PAYNE CAN KICK YOUR ASS,” much to Liam’s embarrassment when he saw them earlier.

They quickly realize just _how_ little they know about football, and rely on cheering when everyone else cheers. They do try to watch the game, but in their defense it’s quite boring, Zayn thinks. Mostly they try to find Liam on the field, throw popcorn at each other, and pretend to narrate the game.

When the team leaves the field for halftime, Zayn stands and yells, “NICE ASS, PAYNE!” and one of the guys punches Liam’s shoulder. Louis cackles, fist-bumping Zayn as she sits back down.

Harry wanders off to talk to the cheerleaders, stretching on the track.

“Look at him, in his tight pants and designer t-shirt,” Louis comments, as some of the girls walk over to talk to him. “He’s wearing a beanie. Who wears a beanie to a football game? Who knew cheerleaders will speak to boys in beanies?”

“He’s a charmer,” Zayn winks, and Louis nods, looking proud. A group of loud jock-types come up to them, and Niall jumps up, giving them the signature bro-hug. Louis and Zayn wave, but stay seated. They’re friendly to most people, but Niall’s friends with everyone. She’s friends with the tuba players and the drama kids, but especially she’s friends with the tall muscular boys who are on six different sports teams and can chug beer better than they can drive. She’s a sweet-looking girl, with the whole girl-next-door vibe, but Niall is a frat boy’s dream at heart.

Louis leans over to Zayn, whispers in her ear, “It’s like watching a National Geographic documentary on a different species,” and Zayn snorts loudly. Niall turns around, sticking her tongue out at them, and goes back to her friends.

Louis and Zayn chat, half-heartedly watching the halftime show, and they hear Niall cackle loudly before she turns around to them.

“Zayn, just so you know, they think you’re hot,” she says loudly, and Zayn smiles, winking over-the-top to the blushing boys beside her. They quickly make themselves scarce, just as Harry walks back up the stands to them, ducking his head and tousling his hair for a good thirty second straight.

“Get any numbers, then?” Louis asks him, patting the spot next to him. Harry just grins. “Good man,” Louis says, slapping his shoulder.

“Perrie says hello, Zayn.” Harry says, giving her a look, and Zayn smirks.

“I bet.”

Niall laughs at that, scooting in to sit against Zayn.

The team floods back onto the field, and they scream for Liam once again, standing to jump up and down as they yell “LI-AM-PAYNE! LI-AM-PAYNE!”

Liam waves and grins as he runs back on the field before someone slaps his back, returning his focus to the game. They sit back down and Zayn lights a cigarette as they idly gossip about cheerleaders.

“Perrie, eh?” Louis asks her, wiggling his eyebrows. Zayn rolls her eyes, smiling.

“Yeah, she was fun for a while.”

“Sounds like she wants to be fun again,” Harry says, grinning. Zayn shrugs.

Niall scoots into her again, tucking under her arm. Zayn knows better than to think anything of it; Niall’s probably the most touchy-feely person in their group of friends, which is saying a lot. There was something sweet about it though, the blonde girl tucked into her in her big varsity jacket.

“Cold, babe?”

“A little.”

Zayn grabs her hands, rubbing them together with her own, cigarette held in her mouth. Niall grins, leaning up to kiss her on the cheek.

Suddenly the stands erupt in cheering, and she looks down at the field to see Liam running toward the goal, the clock ticking down. They shoot out of their seats, jumping up in the down screaming as he passes the goal line and slams the football into the ground. The clock hits zero as the points appear on the scoreboard, and the marching band starts up their school’s fight song as the four of them chant Liam’s name, Niall’s pom-pom being waved wildly next to Zayn’s face.

And suddenly the stands are a frenzy of people rushing toward the stairs, trying to get out of the parking lot first, and there are people pressed against them in every direction. Zayn’s still grinning widely, her arm around Niall, but when she looks down at her Niall doesn’t look happy any more. Niall looks scared, and small, and overwhelmed, and her eyes look panicked. _Claustrophobia,_ Zayn thinks, dropping her cigarette and stamping it out with her foot.

She puts her arms around Niall, whose breathing sounds fast and shallow. Niall burrows her face into Zayn’s neck, and Zayn tries to envelope her, holding on tight until the crowd around them thins and it’s just Harry and Louis, looking concerned over her shoulder.

Zayn whispers in Niall’s ear, “It’s okay.” and she feels Niall lose her tension, feels her breathing slow down.

“’S stupid,” she mutters into Zayn’s neck, pulling back an inch or two. Zayn shakes her head.

“You’ll never be stupid, and I’ll always be here to remind you.”

Niall looks up at her, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed. Her lips turn upward slightly, and she leans back into Zayn to press a barely-there kiss to her collarbone.

“ _Thank you,”_ she breathes, and Zayn finds it hard to follow suit. She blinks as Niall pulls away from her, walking back over to the boys.

Harry tries to catch her eye but she forcefully ignores him, lighting another cigarette instead.

\--

She decides to call Perrie again. She needs something to take her mind off of…well, off of Niall. Niall’s bright-eyed presence, now permanently on her mind. Niall’s pale skin and pale hair and soft lips and soft heart. But whatever. It’s whatever.

Perrie is cute and fun, and doesn’t want anything but someone to hook up with, which Zayn appreciates. Perrie’s actually got friends-with-benefits down to a science, and it’s refreshing.

They hook up every other week and Perrie talks about her friends and asks to copy Zayn’s English notes and she lets her. They smoke pot in Zayn’s bedroom and dance to songs on the radio and when she leaves Zayn feels content.

The group see her leaving Zayn’s house one night as they pull up in Liam’s car and they all start giggling madly as they run through her door.

Zayn’s still in a tank top and her underwear, not having bothered to get properly dressed again. She can feel at least two hickeys exposed and knows they’ll make fun of her endlessly (if not lovingly).

It’s late, it’s Friday night, and honestly, she hadn’t expected them.

“DJ Malik, getting laid!” Louis shouts, hearing the Drake album still playing in her bedroom.

Zayn rolls her eyes and grabs one of her sisters’ hoodies lying nearby. Her mother and sisters were at some class trip for the weekend, and her father was working. She had the house to herself for the first time in ages.

Well, she had, before her brigade of endearingly annoying friends paraded through the door.

“What’s this, then?” Liam calls, poking sharply at a red mark above her heart tattoo, exposed as she lifts her arms to pull on the sweatshirt. He whistles at her, finding more on her neck.

“Oh, leave me alone!” She calls, but she’s smirking. She hears Niall’s laugh from the other side of the room and can’t help but laugh too.

“What are you guys even doing here?” Zayn asks, sitting down on her couch and turning on the TV.

“Well, you told us you had plans, so naturally we had to come ruin them,” Harry says, sitting next to her.

“And little did we know we’d be getting the show that is post-coital Zayn Malik,” Louis says teasingly, wiping a bit of lipstick from the corner of Zayn’s mouth.

Liam’s ordering a pizza, and Niall’s grabbing something from the fridge. “I’m pre-gaming for dinner,” she explains, as if this is a thing people do, and they all nod, as if this is a thing people do.

“You do look good, actually,” Liam says, looking her up and down, and Zayn blushes. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Payne,” she says, tapping his crotch with the back of her hand. He winces.

Harry and Lou are looking her up and down too, but she’s more used to that. “Stupid boys,” she mutters, instinctively reaching for a cigarette but sighing when she remembers not to smoke in her own living room.

“Is it cold out?” she asks, playing with her lighter in her hand.

“You’ll be fine,” Niall calls from the kitchen. “Can I come with you, though?”

Zayn raises an eyebrow.

“Got a headache, just want some air.”

“Then by all means, please inhale my secondhand smoke.” Niall laughs at that and follows after her to the back porch, an apple in her hand.

“Fuck, you liar!” Zayn yells as she walks outside to a brisk wind. She shivers, pulling her hoodie down as far as it can go.

“Oh, forgot you weren’t wearing pants,” Niall laughs, leaning against the wall and taking a bite of the apple.

Zayn debates going back inside to put clothes on, then glances down at the cigarette. “Yeah, it’s not worth it,” she decides, lighting up.

Niall’s still smiling at her, biting her lip. Zayn gives her a questioning look, ashing her cigarette.

“You look really cute right now.” Niall explains, shrugging. She doesn’t feel that cute, honestly, in her little sister’s ratty hoodie and her last pair of underwear left before laundry day. Still, she grins back at Niall.

“You always look cute, Nialler,” Zayn says, blowing her a kiss. Niall laughs but shakes her head, stepping toward Zayn and setting down the apple.

“Nah, I mean you really look cute,” Niall says, putting her hand on Zayn’s hip, thumb reaching out to stroke over her tattoo.

 _Oh no,_ she thinks, taking a step toward Niall, leaning into her.

“Yeah?” Zayn asks, looking up through her dark eyelashes. She blows smoke out of her mouth, and Niall scrunches her nose at the smell.

“Yeah.” Niall says softly, her hand moving up to Zayn’s waist under her hoodie. “You wanna know something, Zayn?”

“I do.”

“You’re really, really hot.” Niall says, before closing the distance between them and pressing her lips into Zayn’s softly. Zayn drops her cigarette, by instinct reaches with her foot to stamp it out, but realizes a minute too late –

“FUCK I’M NOT WEARING SHOES!” she screams, jumping away from Niall and hopping on the foot she didn’t just burn the shit out of.

Niall looks shocked for a moment before giggling despite herself. Zayn glowers at her. “ _Not. Fucking. Funny.”_ she hisses, trying to bend in a way so she can look at the bottom of her own foot.

Niall rolls her eyes, gets down on her knees to look at the damage.

“It doesn’t look that bad, babe, just red.”

“That was so stupid oh my god,” Zayn groans, limping back toward the door, leaning on Niall’s shoulder.

“Shame,” Niall says, and Zayn gives her the look they both understand to mean ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, but am too lazy to say so’.

“Just really wanted to keep kissing you.” Niall explains, smirking at Zayn before pinching her side.

Zayn laughs quietly, nervously. She’s never done this before, had romantic feelings about people who she already loved. Her and Harry – that wasn’t _romantic,_ they were drunk and horny, and anyway they both couldn’t stop laughing enough to do anything. This, though, this thing with Niall. This is a _thing._ And she doesn’t know how to deal with it.

On one hand, kissing Niall and fooling around with Niall and sleeping with Niall sounds like a very, very good time.

Zayn forgets what’s on the other hand when Niall presses her against the wall next to the door, a hand on her stomach. She moans before she realizes what she’s doing, and blushes promptly. Niall grins into the kiss, hands going back up Zayn’s sides up to her ribcage.

Zayn lifts her legs, wrapping them around Niall’s hips, and Niall smiles again. She moves her lips down Zayn’s jaw, down her neck, speaking in staccato syllables between kisses. “Been wanting…to do this…for ages.”

Her breath is hot and Zayn shivers when it hits the hollow below her throat. She nods, and hopefully it relays her intended message ( _Me too, holy shit, this is really great and you’re really fucking hot_ ) because she can’t bring herself to speak when Niall’s hands are just below her breasts and their hips are pressed together and fuck, this is the best time she’s ever had kissing anyone.

She makes a disappointed noise when Niall’s hands go back down her torso, but it catches in her throat when one hand goes to grab her ass and the other plays with the waistband of her panties. Her own hands are in Niall’s hair, her arms around her neck.

Just as Niall’s fingers brush over her clit, they hear an exasperated “Jesus Christ.” from behind them.

Zayn turns to find Harry and Louis poking their heads out the back door, both smirking. “You owe me ten dollars, Lou,” Harry says, before going back inside. Louis cackles and follows behind him.

Niall and Zayn are left in the silence of the backyard, Zayn’s legs still wrapped around Niall. They stare at each other for a moment, small grins on their faces.

“How’s your foot?” Niall asks her, and Zayn realizes she actually forgot about her foot.

“Uh, good. Better.” She answers, still pinned against the wall.

“Maybe we should go inside,” Niall offers, and Zayn nods, putting her feet back on the ground and wincing when her left foot hits.

Niall laughs a little, and Zayn glares at her. “It’s your fault,” Zayn says, leaning on her again.

“How do you figure that?”

“You were distracting me! With your tongue!” Niall laughs again, louder, and kisses Zayn on the cheek.

“Hey, Zayn?”

“Yeah?”

“I like you, you know. This isn’t like…this isn’t like Perrie, or...I really like you.” Niall says quietly, looking down at the ground, and Zayn feels the breath knocked out of her.

If she’s honest, she doesn’t know how she feels about Niall. She hasn’t dated someone in…well, ages. She’s not good at it, not good at thinking about other people. But this is _different,_ she reminds herself. Niall, she always thinks about Niall. Always trying to make her happy, because when Niall’s happy, it’s hard not to be. She looks over at Niall, at the girl who’s been plaguing her dreams for weeks, the girl who really likes her.

“I really like you too.” She decides, and Niall grins wide.

They look at each other for a beat, and Niall giggles again. “Sorry, this just feels so high school, so dramatic. You’re _Zayn,_ this is so weird.”

“Offense, Horan. You should feel privileged to witness me in girlfriend mode. I was about to ask you on a real live date.” Zayn teases, smiling.

“So we’re dating, then?” Niall asks.

“Well, I thought it would be the best way to tackle this.”

“Never had a girlfriend,” says Niall, a broad smile still on her face.

“I’m a little out of practice, so you’re not really at a disadvantage.” Zayn says, shrugging.

“How about that date, then?”

“Dates are stupid. We spend all our time together anyway.” Zayn says, making a face.

“Wow, yeah, you’re really bad at this.” Niall says, and does that little laugh where her nose scrunches up, and Zayn can’t believe she’s just realized she likes Niall.

“I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow, Malik,” Niall winks, and they finally go back inside, Niall’s arm still around her waist.

\--

Their first date, and Zayn rolls her eyes even thinking the words, is a little strange, but good-strange.

Niall picks her up in her shitty car, actually coming to the door instead of just honking the horn in her driveway.

Zayn raises her eyebrows when she opens the door. Niall’s wearing jeans that actually fit her (and fit her well, she thinks to herself), a low-cut shirt that she recognizes as Harry’s, and shoes that _aren’t_ oversized skate shoes.

Zayn whistles low, and Niall rolls her eyes. “Shut up, asshole,” Niall says, laughing, and Zayn smiles.

She agonized over her own outfit for ages, actually, but she’s not going to tell Niall that. It was worth it though, judging from Niall’s subtle attempts to check her out.

The thigh-highs and leather jacket aren’t all that different from her normal outfits, but Zayn prides herself in her ability to be quietly sexy. Currently, though, standing in the doorway, she’s just quietly freezing.

“Let’s go,” Zayn smiles at her, and Niall nods. They drive to this pizza place downtown that’s always packed and noisy, but surprisingly fancy.

“You look really fucking good, you know.” Niall says conversationally, grabbing her slice of pizza from the plate in front of them.

Zayn laughs, taking a bite of her own. “I do know, actually.”

“I tried really hard, and I deserve credit for that. But I wasn’t sure what to wear on a date with my best friend.” Niall shrugs and Zayn grins despite herself.

“You’re wearing Harry’s shirt,” Zayn notes, and Niall blushes a little.

“Yeah, well. I don’t own anything this low-cut.” Niall says and Zayn laughs.

They eat pizza and laugh and gossip and generally have a pretty good time. It’s weird, having this layer of fledgling relationship awkwardness with a girl she knows so well. But it feels less and less weird as the night goes on, and it’s almost gone by the time they walk out of the restaurant, stopping for coffee before they walk back to Niall’s car.

Niall grabs her hand, and it doesn’t feel weird at all, actually.

They’re kissing in the car and it feels the opposite of weird, whatever that is.

“Where to, then?” Niall asks, pulling away from her.

“Whoever’s house is empty,” Zayn says plainly, and Niall smirks.

“That’d be me.” Niall says, glancing at Zayn and biting her lip. Her lips are smeared with Zayn’s lipstick, and Zayn’s overwhelmed by the feeling of wanting to stain her entire body.

\--

Sleeping with Niall is different than she’d expected. She’d expected shyness, all quiet blushes and soft noises and soft skin.

What she gets instead is Niall pinning her down, making her come hard, and quickly. She gets marks on her hipbones from Niall pressing too hard and swollen lovebites on her thighs.

Niall is anything but shy, growling dirty talk into her ear with one hand on her own clit as she pushes her fingers into Zayn.

After Zayn comes, moaning Niall’s name quietly, Niall gets herself off while Zayn can’t help but watch, her hands going up and down Niall’s torso to her breasts, her stomach, touching every inch she can.

Niall’s fingers grab her bedsheets, twist in Zayn’s hair as she makes herself come, her breathing ragged. She settles next to Zayn as she basks in the afterglow of her orgasm, and Zayn lights a cigarette.

“Could’ve done that for you, you know,” Zayn says, exhaling out Niall’s bedroom window.

“Nah, s’okay. Just wanted to see you come, didn’t care about anything else.” Niall says, wrapping herself around Zayn, her skin soft and warm.

Zayn laughs quietly. “Next time, then.”

Niall smiles, leans to kiss Zayn’s neck.

“There’ll be a next time?” Niall asks her, and Zayn props herself up on her elbows to look down at Niall.

“I’m going to level with you, Niall, that was one of the best orgasms I’ve ever had. I have a personal responsibility to continue this.” Niall laughs, her nose scrunching.

“Also, you’re, y’know, you.” Zayn says, trying to find a way to put it that won’t cause her embarrassment.

“And what does that mean, exactly?” Niall asks, pulling herself up to kiss Zayn softly.

“It means you’re – " _Cute, funny, adorable, sweet, kind of wonderful,_ “– you’re just you.” Zayn finishes lamely, but she thinks Niall gets the drift, her eyes looking fond as she kisses Zayn on the cheek before lying back down.

Zayn finishes her cigarette, throwing the butt out the window, and lies down next to her.

“Shit, we should…put clothes on, probably.” Niall says, sitting up. Zayn groans.

“My mom, you know?” Niall says, and Zayn nods, grabbing her panties from the floor as Niall does the same.

Niall tosses her an oversized Ramones t-shirt, probably pilfered from Harry at some point, and Zayn puts it on, smelling it as she slips it over her head.

“Are you…sniffing that?” Niall asks her, and Zayn blushes. Niall grins at her, raising her eyebrows.

“I’m feeling very girlfriendly in this moment,” Zayn responds, pulling the shirt down over her stomach, and Niall giggles.

“Does it smell good?” Niall asks, sitting cross-legged between Zayn’s legs.

“Smells like you.”

“So no?” Niall asks, teasing, leaning in to Zayn.

“Ugh, yes, you smell good, you insufferable –” but Niall cuts her off, kissing her.

“I like you.” Niall says, sounding sleepy, lying down on the bed again.

“Like you too,” Zayn says, wrapping her arms around Niall’s torso and resting her head on Niall’s chest.

“One of the best you’ve ever had, huh?” Niall whispers in her ear, and Zayn rolls her eyes.

“Don’t let it go to your head, Horan,” she replies, and Niall laughs loudly.

They lie in silence, and Zayn hears Niall’s breathing go deep and slow, knows she’s sleeping. Zayn sits up, not feeling tired, and grabs her phone.

She has a few unread messages, but the latest one is Harry. “ _Hows yr date?????”_ she reads, and smiles.

“ _It was very very very good”_ she replies, and she looks at the others. Two inappropriate jokes from Lou, and one from Liam that just contains six smiley faces. Unreal.

Harry texts her back a winky face with a question mark, and Zayn laughs despite herself. She texts back “ _Yes”_

“ _:)) Details later”_ she gets back a moment later.

“ _Ew. (Yes)”_ she grins as she types, and sets her phone down again. Harry’s the only one she’ll talk to about sex; with Liam it’s awkward, like talking to your big brother, and Louis always takes it too far.

Maybe it’s because she’s known Harry since she was about six, or maybe it’s because of their own sexual misadventures, but she’s always felt comfortable confiding in him. Even though he probably tells the other boys everything she says.

She lies back down next to Niall, fingering a hole in the hem of the Ramones shirt and smiling to herself. She pulls the blanket over herself and is overwhelmed by how at home she feels next to the blonde girl, snoring slightly.

It’s always felt like this, she guesses, but she didn’t realize to what extent. Zayn wraps herself around Niall and breathes her in. She smells like clean clothes and a little bit like weed, but mostly like her citrusy perfume.

She falls asleep with Niall on every part of her mind.

\--

Niall’s mom makes them pancakes in the morning, and chats with Zayn about school and graduation and college. Zayn smiles and nods and tries to focus on the conversation while Niall runs her foot up Zayn’s leg. She swats at Niall under the table, and Niall just cackles.

Zayn keeps the Ramones shirt.

\--

Surprisingly (maybe unsurprisingly), their group dynamic changes very little. Zayn sits in Niall’s lap more, and the guys make fewer jokes about Zayn’s sex life, but really, it’s about the same.  Actually, Louis probably makes more jokes about her sex life, but she laughs them off easier.

Whenever they kiss, Liam looks like he’s about to burst into actual rays of sunshine, and Zayn’s taken to throwing things at him.

“What?” Liam cries, rubbing the spot on his arm where the lighter hit.

“I’m not cute.” Zayn says, crossing her arms, and the boys laugh.

“I’m very tough! Look at all my tattoos!” She yells, pushing up her sleeves, and Niall laughs at her.

“I think you’re cute,” Niall says, putting her hand on Zayn’s waist. Zayn rolls her eyes. “Yes, well, you’re allowed to.”

“Good,” Niall replies, kissing her cheek, and the boys issue a chorus of ‘Aww’s, Liam throwing the lighter back at her.

\--

“Danielle’s agreed to go on a date with me!” Liam yells from upstairs, walking through Harry’s front door. The four of them cheer loudly from the basement as Liam runs down the stairs.

“What changed her mind, then?” Harry asks, and Zayn shouts, “You must be joking! His lovely little face of course.” She pinches his cheek and Liam rolls her eyes.

“Abs don’t hurt either, I would imagine.” Louis says, head still stuck in the fridge, and they laugh.

“Good for you, man.” Niall says, lifting her soda to his honor. She’s lying across the couch, and Zayn flops down on top of her.

“What are you even like on a date?” Zayn asks, and Liam laughs.

“Very knight-in-shining-armor, I think.” Louis says, throwing Liam a can of soda, and he rolls his eyes.

“I am not –” Liam tries to interject, but Harry and Louis are too busy acting the scene out, with Louis pulling out an imaginary chair for Harry.

“You’re all assholes,” Liam says, going over to turn the Xbox on and tossing Niall a controller.

“Get off me, babe, I need to focus on my game.” Niall says, and Zayn bursts into laughter. “You can’t be serious with that. That could not have been a serious thing.” Zayn says in between laughs, and Niall laughs along with her.

“It was, a bit, though.” Niall says when Zayn stops, and Zayn smiles.

“Sure, no problem, _bro_.” Zayn says, pulling herself off of Niall to sit next to her, kissing her cheek.

She catches Harry’s eye and he’s smiling at her. She sticks her tongue out, but she smiles back.

She can’t help but feel like it’s all coming together.


End file.
